EYE on GEN Y – Obamacare and Gen Y

How will Obamacare affect the generational characteristics of Generation Y?

Here’s one example: Obamacare allows Gen Ys, aka Millennials, to stay on their parents’ insurance coverage until the age of 26.

A group health plan and a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage that provides dependent coverage of children shall continue to make such coverage available for an adult child until the child turns 26 years of age.

Both political parties think that this is a good provision which should be kept whether or not Obamacare is repealed.

But, Gen Ys, having been bombarded by hype and spin throughout their young lives, do understand that the reason they need to stay on their parents’ medical insurance coverage until age 26 is – they cannot find jobs and get their own insurance.

The unspoken message being sent to this generation of go-getters is that we see them as “adult children,” a phrase coined by the Federal government. That term certainly does not fit the self-image of ambitious Gen Ys, and, moreover, puts the focus on them as “children” rather than as the adults that they are.

A 25-year-old can fight for the U.S., get married and raise children, and carry many responsibilities.

Let either political party keep the insurance-under-age-26, if needed, but does such a law and such language send the message that we are prolonging the definition of childhood way past its traditional limit?